Denis Sarazhin was born in Nikopol, Ukraine in 1982 . He attended the Kharkov Art and Design Academy, graduating in 2008. He specialized in painting and was a pupil of Ganozkiy V. L., Chaus V. N., and Vintayev V. N.. Sarazhin was awarded with the 1st Degree Diploma Award for Excellence in Painting from the Ukrainian Art Academy.
Denis Sarazhin’s portraits focus on the communicative potential of the human body. The artist denies the viewer the affirmation of eye contact by frequently obscuring his subjects’ faces, preferring instead to convey meaning in the kinetic forms of his figures. In his “Pantomime” series of paintings, Sarazhin captures a dramatic sense of motion through his subjects’ contorted poses, reminiscent of the distorted figural works of Expressionist painter Egon Schiele. A skilled colorist, Sarazhin combines classic chiaroscuro painting techniques with a fresh and vibrant use of color that renders his figures fleshy and lifelike. Born in Ukraine, Sarazhin trained in the classic style of Soviet Realism at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts and has been a member of Kharkiv’s section of the Ukraine’s Artist Alliance since 2007. His works have been exhibited in the U.S., Ukraine, Germany, Spain, and Denmark.
